Intro….

CY 7799-8000: In these years some magical influence ran loose across realms. A great power awakened that had slept for a long time unnoticed – so the sages say. In 5999, a great wall of water shattered the Dragon Shore – splintered the headland and sweeping over the low hills. It is said that nearly half the dragons dies in their sleep. From there, a massive storm tore northward, passing most of the south. The storm was so violent that it shook the ground and changed the air days ahead of its path. The storm raged up the Storm Coast, breaking against the Umbakain peninsula and tearing loose towns and villages from their very foundations. Raging out to see, the storm once again came inland in Blackwater Bay and broke into several lightning storms which took centuries to finally die out. In the mean time, the Curtain of Night was broken in several places and bulged in others. The eastern frontier raged in warfare for a century as whatever the storm’s influence continued to fluctuate the borders of the Darklands. The final fate of the power that loosed the storms in unknown. It is whispered that it was adventurer’s greed and curiosity that awoke an ancient power in the south, underneath the Hobnail Plateau. Over its course, it is estimated that the Chaos Storm and its effects (ruined crops, flooding, disease, slides, winds) are responsible for the death of about 15% of the total population of the Western Lands. The exact impact on the dark lands is unknown.

• CY 8000; The storm dies out gradually, but a wave of weird weather travels inland – covering the north in snow and rain. The Lich Lords press their advantage and Northgate garrison overrun in 4998.
• CY 7971; An adventurous noble of Gwinn from the ancient family of Fourlaud attempts to replicate his ancestors crossing and succeeds. The “New West” becomes a place to colonize.
• CY 7965; The storm is funneled into Blackwater Bay. The Valdeysean Isles are flooded and many small ones sink in the deluge.
• Cy 7952-7962; ‘Storm War’ – The Merchant Cities of the North and Dunstrand fight over the changed landscape. Of note, out of this came the 3 swords of Fayne.
• CY 7950; The storm has slowed, and now breaks on Scar Flow and Tarmysia – the Tarysian Lords are devastated. Loamwold loases half its population.
• CY 7900; Storm hits Umbakian Peninsula and causes and sinks all small islands off the coast, waterloggin the entire western half the Kingdom. Grain is in short supply, fields soaked, rivers flooding, Rockholm flooded as well.
• CY 7875; Storm has made its way up the Storm Coast, scouring every coastal community to the ground.
• CY 7825; Storm makes for Gwinn; The Gwinnish priesthood of Elancil and Wavewatcher Guild combines forces to force the storm east. No one belied it possible, and there are many who believe some other force was at work that diminished the storm somehow. Waerl Bay is devastated.
• CY 7820; Storm hits Scrape and nearly drowns the entire city; Scrape is abandoned.
• CY 7805; Storm breaks loose from the Dragon Coast and begins slow travel north.
• CY 7800; ‘Chaos Storm’ is unleashed above the Dragon Caves; dragons fly in the south attacking the storm, cities and herds, angry for the deaths of their kind. The great dragon-mage Morphoerastlynn vanishes forever from the sight of the living – see Morphoerastlynn’s Dream Scattering.
• CY 7799; Wave crashed in the Dragon Coast shattered the headland and breaking the dreams of dozens of dragons.

CY 7431: Thanes Library system built in the north. An ongoing process that collected as much of the northern histories, cross referenced it and kept the reference spread across the northern lands in each “Scroll Vault” – where the book, scrolls, and tablets were stored. It runs from Thurlow to Kaald and even eventually to Kalascor.

CY 7007: North Gate Freed – Starting with a desperate feint by the army of Kaald, the forces of the west attempt to regain the lost fortresses. The western lands band together and take a dangerous gamble, pulling half their hosts from the forces which guard against the Dark lands. Keeping up appearances with supply orders, lighting, and activity drains the resources of the realms. Lead by the Umbakians, an army 100,000 strong smashes the Lich Lords host assembling at the captured Northgate Garrison. A quarter of the soldiers perish in the worst fighting in remembrance. The western lands are safe once again.

CY 6200; The orrish muster a massive army and destroy the remaining fortresses and lands in Six spires Pass
(east of Oerdney). The last of the old houses of the east are destroyed or move west. Many of them find a home
serving the burgeoning fief of Dunstrand . There, they will eventually become the River Lords.

No one knows for sure where the Lich Lords came from. Everything happened so fast in the beginning and all the records of the north
are sealed in its icy embrace.

• CY 5612-7006; The Age of Winters – The Lich Lords march against the dark lands and lands of light. Crops blight and a frost hangs in the air, nights grow cold, even in the south.
• CY 5611; The hinterlands and Kaald declares their independence; Dundaria is recognized as a fallen kingdom like Synedcia.
• CY 5604; The Lich Lords employ their first “Shattering“. Soon, many cities will fall this way.
• CY 5603; The banners of Djerduth the Lord of the Dead fly across the north. The Lich Lords announce their crusade of death and promise eternal ‘life’ to those who will willingly lead their followers into the embrace of the new ‘servants of Djerduth’.
• CY 5595; The first Winter Host enters the pass at North Gate Garrison – stopped by the Fevered Host of Merkaine
• CY 5581; All contact with the north is cut off; Dundaria begins its fall.
• CY 5580; Winter Without End: Winter does not end in the north in the normal seasonal change – a hint at what was to come next from the Lich Lords. The bone breaking wind and chill is named the Fangedfrost.

CY 5377-5580: Nothing happens…

CY 5773-77: The veil between the lands of dusk and the realms was pierced in the Grey Woods, covering them in gloom and streaking the sky with tendrils of inky blackness. The woods burned as though alive, and a great army of shadow and creatures of night slipped through. The Skraelings were thought to have been destroyed in the genocidal madness which swept northwards, into the daylight. Many of the best knights of the High King died stemming the tide of darkness. The fire of the woods was turned to against the shadow, and made as bright as day. The lands were given over to the druids, which sacrificed the forest, knowing lost already and wanting to rid what was left of the taint. They were able to rapidly re-grow the once proud forest, although hundreds of years were required to return it to the lushness it once was. The Order of Darvos erected a great wall of brambles, which re-grows itself when destroyed. This wall is known as Toolins Den, named after the Skraeling hero of the Battle of Autumn Valley.

• CY 5777; Skraeling Sanctuary – ‘The Grey Wood Gift’. The High King returns the Grey Woods to a status of Sanctuary in perpetuity
  for the Skraelings who are almost driven to extinction.
• CY 5776; Toolins Den grows over and around the encamped army of Orrish, building walls of earth in its rise. The dark clouds of the Curtain of Night are turned against their masters and dump water for hours, drowning the minions of darkness.

CY 5774: Forced by (some say contrived) civil dispute and geas of King’s Honor, the Justicar of Bathazar to fight in single combat, Prince Frenahl of House Candith was struck down by Sir Berindhar Arrhot (of House Arrhot, Lord of which and bannermen of the High King). Ultimately, House Candith was utterly destroyed in 5776, their possessions taken by the High King and their allies yoked under the armies of High King’s and Umbak to fight against the dark lords bid in the Grey Woods.

5960-5973: The last bid by the combined might of the Merchant Princes (lead by House Candith) to regain their lost lands between the Cosheus Abyssal and the Pale Plains ended in disaster. Considered one of the darkest times in recent memory, House Candith’s bid for supremacy in the south lead to many years of strife
and untold deaths. Few places south of the central heartlands were untouched by the struggles, and many changes came about because of it – the schemes and plots nearly caused the collapse of the entire heartlands – Umbak included – as alliances and politics tore the lands apart.

CY 5800-5950: ‘The Hundred Year Peace’ – Prosperity and peace bolster a settling of the heartlands.
The territories [mostly] peacefully settle their differences and the borders of the west, north and south are built up and secured.

CY 5778-5799: The Third Nakrian Wars – Doolun Emirates joins the Steel League of the South (they eventually decide not to commit fully).

CY 5691: – The Merchant Cities officially organize under the clans and family model; The head of each clan is called a “Prinz” (the High King refuses to acknowledge them as ‘prince’). They drive many of the savages out of the Beyne River area to the north.

CY 5659-5669: The Second Nakrian Wars – Balletogue and Beryl (with the Steel League of the South) band together to stave off a massive army.

CY 5656: The Befoulment of the Gloaming marks a period of madness and toxic death in the heartlandsof the realm – huge amounts of the population died or was made ill.

CY 5619-5643: Gwinn re-asserts its dominance on the waters. Open warfare breaks out in Waerl Bay. The Merchant Cities of the North are given time enough to secure their inland trade dominance and create a small navy in the north. Together with a small Umbakian navy, Gwinnish forces are kept from menacing the northern coasts.

• CY 5639; The Red March lands and resources are built
• CY 5622; Dunstrand re-settled
• CY 5620; The Freelands of the North declare their independence

CY 5400-5800: Border Wars – Sporadic war through the south. The Bandit Kingdoms are formed in the blighted east of Synedcia and wage war against the Border Kingdoms, pushed by the tide of darkness from the east. The Orrish tribes swept south and west, driving the bandit nations to war against the border men. The remnants of the traditional houses of the south unify long enough to reclaim some of the lost glory and order that once reigned long ago in the south. Most of the key positions, cities and resources are brought back into the control, to some degree, of the older houses of the south.

• Rise of the mercenary culture in the south
• CY 5743; The Steel League of the South and the High King, with the powers of the Church of Aerna and the Green Church found the Office of Reclamation. An entire order dedicated to restoring the blasted lands of the south.
• CY 5685; The High King commissions the ranger brotherhood of the Desert Lions to explore and watch the south.

CY 5413: Balletogue breaks Away – Carlion Balletogue conquers the local lords in a ten year bloody campaign. He kills all claimants by blood and ends the blood line of many southern noble families. The High King refuses to recognize this independence, but it is so far from the troubles and so secure that the effort to convince the King of Balletogue otherwise is not worth the effort. The border powers of the south are afraid of the power their new neighbor wields. In 5410, in in a river valley of Balletogue, a river is diverted and washes out hundreds of stone-like dragon eggs. Inside were dragonlings, clutches of soldiers, and a cache of weapons and armor. The last army of the dragons was wiped out. Their spirits haunted to lands for decades, activated by the strong nearby presence of the navel of the earth in the Fertile Crescent.

CY 5400: Crusade of Welences – The remnants of family Fadhamir, one of the last imperial southern lines carries the fires of light to reclaim the Broken Lands. On the far edges of known lands, the bloodline is ended and a horde of dark spawn led by twin priests is thrown down. Slowly, the re-conquered lands are given back to the desolation.

CY 5354: Rise of the Merchant Cities – The coordinated effort to supply the south during the first Nakran War gives rise to the official formation of the Merchant City “League” of the South and North (constituted from the once conquered allies of the Salvin Warlords in the north).

CY 5347-5350: The First Nakrian Wars – Beryl raises largest call to arms in hundreds of years as a Nakrian army sweeps north.

CY 5348: Steel League of the South formed. Border nations and those small independent territories north of the Cosheus Abyssal band together for economic and defense benefits around Waerl bay.

CY 5288: The final fall of the Sea-Kings – All the coastal settlements and a large portion of the Sea Bourne isles in the homeland are sunk beneath the waves. Mighty magics are employed to save the rich and opulent cities, but most fail and the greatest magi and priests of the Sea-King Empire are wiped out as a result of The Sundering’s effects. Once virtually immune to the wrath of the dragons, all large sea going vessels were purposely attacked. Dragon attacks Kraken and the mighty krakens, kings of the sea, are thrown down beneath the waves. The last of the Sea-King settlements outside of Gwinnish cities is sacked in 5288.

CY 5102: The re-founding of Beryl as an independent city.

CY 5000-5100: For another hundred year period the dragons take to the skies, shaken from the dreams by The Sundering, reigning fire and destroying settlements in their anger. After a hundred years, they return to sleep once again. The dragons attempted to smash lines of commerce and communication; destroying cultures and traditions through new necessities across the breadth of the realms.

CY 2361-4673 ; The Ages of Dominion are the times when men alone were given the leadership of all the people of the realms
in the fight against the Orrish. It is the time of High Kings and the age of Fellowships is at an end.

• CY 4649 – 4673; The Broken North – war rages in the far north as the Sea-Kings try and colonize far inland. The fighting is fierce and the Kingdom of Dundaria is bled dry in battles against the terrible creature controlled by the Sea-Kings. Finally, through attrition alone, at the Battle of Broken Springs, the forces of the Sea-Kings are defeated and driven back to the sea border cities.
• CY 4509; The “Isle” of Forlad is discovered in the “Far West” by Sea-King vessels. The sea was terrible to cross and Forlad is just a rocky barren place.
• CY 4482 – 4673; Second Kraken’s War – against the Sea-Kings; sanctuary lost. Divided between the Sea-kings and Orks the west is stretched to the breaking point. The Sea-Kings return with new nightmares from the deep and control of the waters. The lands of the west are opened to all as the constant toll of warfare has depleted them.
• CY 4009 – 4903; Ork Wars – for over five hundred years, the Orrish drive south, time and again meeting the forces of the Synedcia Empire and the army of the High King and being driven back.
• CY 4001; Umbakian Hegemony in the heartlands broken – Rise of Merchant Princes of the South. Several lands claimed by Umbak use the declaration of Fealty to break their ties and declare for the High King. The cities form the first Merchant League and leverage economic power against their enemies. After many small outbreaks of violence, Umbak is forced to finally recognize their independence in CY 4012.
• CY 3990; Declaration of Fealty – no more separate kingdoms says the High King. The Orrish begin new attacks and the High King dissolves the newly formed and seemingly ineffective Fellowship Council. Many races and territories object, but the threat of lack of protection turns most into swearing fealty to the High King. This declaration ends the second period of dominion and ushers in the third period of dominion.

• CY 3950-3989; Contemplation of fellowship – The giants declare the leadership of the dominion flawed, and a fellowship council is briefly convened and debates for 40 years of relative quiet – the second age of dominion ends.
• CY 3949; Giants retreat – All giants retreat to the far north, north of Dundaria, They swear eternal hatred to the Ducateon – whom they blame for their near-extinction. They withdraw from the bonds of sanctuary and declare the wintery north to be theirs – enter on pain of death.
• CY 3516 – 3947; Troll Wars – The Orrish allies organize a concerted attack upon only Ducateon defenses. Trolls devastate Ducateon forces in the darkness of deep earth no other species can help. The Giants of the west band together – for they can see heat in the darkness and have the strength and size to follow the trolls into their tunnels and into the under-dark. Many a clan of giants is driven to extinction through the constant warfare. In 3947 the Ducateon bargain with the sibling of the dragon house and end the war – the dragon cleansing their homes and rooting out the trolls – the blood line of trolls is nearly wiped out.
• CY 3455; Rise of Synedcia Empire – South Secured – Imperial power based on power sharing between eight great houses; under fealty to the High King. Cleverly they execute their charge as an empire, not a kingdom. Peace reigns for a while as the Orrish are completely driven back in the south. The Light Bringers and Unholy Trio clash in direct battles in the unsettled south. The overflowing heartlands are emptied of humans as they journey south, to populate those lands and honor the declaration of Sanctuary in the west.
• CY 2967; Umbak Declares Sovereignty – The High King realizes that he cannot govern all lands directly and appoints regional governors, but these men declare kingdoms for themselves. With each uprising, the High King must divert forces from the battle with the Orrish. Finally, When the Teilhard house of the Duchy of Umbak declares itself a sovereign kingdom, the High King negotiates a peace – allowing the kingdom to continue, but requiring the King of Umbak to be his enforcement arm in the west – especially against the terrifying and strange power of the Sea Kings. In 2966 they, along with a failed attempts by the Dreadlords of Cersai drive the Sea Kings back to the sea along a vast stretch of heartland territory.
• CY 2966; The Verbuir destroy the Dreadlords utterly, devastating the region and causing the weakened Verbuir to be wiped out by rival political factions. The first of the free cities that would become the merchant cities of the north are founded along the renamed Beyne River.
• CY 2958; The Verbuir of Ser-Caynth (Sea King clan) are driven to the sea by the Dreadlords of Bronze.
• CY 2931; ‘The One Kingdom’ – Borrenhal D’Menco, Son of Urias, the slayer of Cuural Denchaq (called the Black Hawk) assumes the throne of Dundaria. Cuural, a fae elf united the tribes of the T’Yendi hill peoples and Grollen against Gladnor. Borrenhal had learned warfare in the court of the king at Gladnor, in Oerdney, as a hostage of the High King. Once old enough his father put him in charge of the north reaches of the kingdom. It is said that he slew the Black Hawk by treachery, that it was in his blood. For next, he slew his brothers, one after another. He usurped Black Hawk’s place at the front of the T’Yendi peoples and marched against his own brothers and father, killing each in battle until the kingdom was finally his. But he did not stop. In league with dark magics, he spread his rule by torch and sword. He conquered all lands west of the Grey woods except Umbak. He turned his war into the darklands, and human darkness of the soul eclipsed the darkness of night. All things were turned to war, until the day he died and his heir took control. He proclaimed himself the One-King, above all others. Only Umbak held out against him, allying herself with the exiled forces of Gladnor, the faeries of the north and even the Ducateon, for his Shadow Spawn had infiltrated several holts, poisoning the colonies and warping their dead spirits. The madness of pride and possession ran into the bloodline of Dundaria and the line of One-Kings reigned for 60 years over 5 kings – all wed to the same woman – until Aechus of Umbak drove all the way to the sacred mountain of the Hael Ruthi, leading a force through the north which caught the undying witch-mate of the line of kings unawares. It is said that her bones were scattered across the realms of man and beast, and even the dark lands so that her spirit could not return.
• CY 2904 – Fiefdom of Ven-Bra-Yur; the Sea Kings finally conquer the lands of most of modern day Dunstrand, annihilating the current inhabitants except those of the Salvin Warlords (south of the Beyne River). The clans of this merciless savage culture is made allies and serve as a buffer to the north heartlands.
• CY 2866-2968; Kraken’s War – The Sea-Kings control and dominate the water ways – up rivers and at sea. They have strange vessels and creatures in service to them and terrorize the lands of men, colonizing the coastal lands and all island territories.

CY 2361-2866; The last 200 years of this period are some of the most uneventful years of the history of
Helca. Often this period is looked back upon as proof of the superiority of humans and their right to rule.
Not only did they stave off the might lords of darkness and their hosts, but peace reigned for hundreds of years.
In 2966, the Sea Kings attack the lands of the west and the High King is overwhelmed. The time and
myth of The Protectorate are at an end.

• CY 2528; The Ducateon make peace with the dragon house Maphazel; the dragons prowl the Gurtan Tunnel-Ways and the Ducateon attack the Orrish host from behind in a coordinated attack with men, giant, elf, and grollen – driving them back across the mountains.
• CY 2525; Ezrilus keeps the full moon in the sky for a full cycle, giving light in the night, and using it as a weapon against the dark lords. The Curtain of Night is stopped just short of the west side of the Tulkisson Range.
• CY 2506; The Curtain of Night rolls across the Tolkisson Range, spreading storms and darkness.
• CY 2362; ‘Protectorate’ proclaimed; The High King declares all of the west the protectorate – sanctuary for the races will be protected by the High King – humans branch out in the name of protecting other races sanctuary decrees.
• Founding of Gladnor CY 2361:
  
  Gladnor was the third kingdom of men. The High King conquers feuding lords and unites the heartlands of the west. These united lands are named Gladnor, in honor of general Gladeus – the High Kings best friend
  and trusted ally who conquered or bargained the local lords into submission. Sanctuary is proclaimed again
  in the west and the Elves, Ducateon, Skraeling and Grollen all pay homage to the High King.

During this time there is much argument amongst the races and houses of men. Chaos and confusion,
discord and strife – the men were constantly pushed into retreat. Nurthland holds for a long time. At one
point, a great host sent from the west drives the Orrish back, and it looked as if the Elves of Redwood
and the men of Nurthland would stand fast – but the trolls had dug deep under Redwood and it was attacked
from behind.

The Time of Fellowships Ends: CY 2358

The fellowship council recognizes that the time of fellowships is at an end. The lack of unity among
the fellowship races and lands, even in the face of their common enemy, has led to a sad decision of abandoning their charters.
They recognize the High King as the supreme authority in the battle with the Orrish.

Battles of the Forge: CY 2332-2357

For years the Orrish try and push through Bloodhook Pass and over the Tolkisson range – men and
Ducateon stop them time and again with aid from the Grollen – the faerie races are in decline and have little
representation on the lines of battle.

The Orrish ‘Walk South’: CY 2302-2331

• CY 2331; Bloodhook Despair – a hundred thousand are taken captive.
• CY 2330; Nurth falls
• CY 2329; Redwood falls – The twin fortresses of the Sword of Mizras and Shield of Whelm are built in the Bloodhook Pass.
• CY 2324; Fuergar Dominar falls
• CY 2321; Dosanak Falls
• CY 2318; Minbrath falls
• CY 2317; The Warriors Wall – a string of forts of men and out-holts of Ducateon are built in the Tolkisson Mountains. In the passes east of the Fhayln Marches.
• CY 2316; Al Habbaen falls
• CY 2313; Al Mahndiel falls
• CY 2302; The Dark Veil, once thought to be immobile, moves forward and engulfs territories held by men in the east after the fall of Anjeth.

CY 1523-2302: The faeries, specifically the Elves of Ynth, lead the third Fellowship. They lead
the races out of the first Age of Dragons and are slow to rebuild. They are slow to react when the Orrish
invade the lands of men and the Dark Veil becomes Night’s Curtain – a moving wall of darkness that covers
the invaders. After Anjeth falls, the humans leave the Fellowship.

• CY 2302; The Fall of the city of Anjeth
• CY 2289; Dundaria, the second kingdom of men, proclaims its sovereignty as a Kingdom – and its allegiance to the High King. The event is known as the “Joining of the Elms”. Houdested and rival Duravain are merged into the first house of Dundar. It is said that the event can still be seen reflected in the polished inner lining of the shield Thanevoor’s Rebuff .
• CY 2244; The High King proclaims all territories as under rule of the One-Law.
• CY 2193; The humans try and wrest the Third Fellowship from the Elves, electing a new High Councilor.
  The new High Councilor assumes the title of High King.
• CY 1600; The Sea Kings declare sovereignty of their lands and refuse to recognize the authority of the
  High Councilor. Because they are so far from the east, little attention is paid.

The First Age of Dragons

CY 1422-1522; The dragons are woken from their slumber and fly across the lands, bringing fiery death to
the civilized lands of light and under the Dark Veil alike. Centuries of building and civilization fall in
the span of a hundred years. The Orrish are spared extinction at the hands of The Fellowship.

• CY 1422; The priests of darkness awaken the sleeping dragons in anger – thus begins the First Dragon Age.

CY 591-1421; The Ducateon lead the Second Fellowship. Fallen lands in the east are re-captured.
War rages in the north and between the lands of Al Drunar and Orishai. There is a concerted drive to wipe
the Orrish and their allies out. The Orrish breed as fast as they can be eliminated. Finally, The
Interloper is broken free of its tie with the Unholy Trio forever and Ezrilus is no longer shackled. Magic
power across the realms begins to return to normal.

The Casting of the Veil

CY 1421; For three years the Orrish have retreated and been slaughtered. The Sune-Bane has grown stronger
with each passing season; the Lords of Light have finally brought an end to the death and tyranny of the
Unholy Trio. Finally, Orrish power in retreat everywhere – even their home of Orishai, the dark lords bring
succor to their servants in the form of the Dark Veil – a black covering of clouds which shrouds all under
it in darkness, out of the direct rays of the sun. The Orrish still the advance of light, however they are
surrounded, encircled by waiting foes on all sides. Mt Doomspire becomes a fortress for the servants of
the dark lords.

• CY 1421; The High Councilor and his vanguard are ambushed by Trolls.
• The races begin to argue over the western lands as humans make more and more incursions.
• CY 1418: The Sun-Bane is enacted
• CY 1277: Low Gurtan tunnel cut by the Ducateon in the south Tolkisson Moiuntains.
• CY 935: Mid Gurtan tunnel cut by the Ducateon in the heartland Tolkisson Moiuntains.
• CY 645: High Gurtan tunnel cut by the Ducateon in the north Tolkisson Moiuntains.

Sunset Times

CY 344-591: The Interloper slowly casts a shadow over the natural moon of Helca and magic is on
the wane. The gods of darkness steal from Ezrilus her fertility, chaining her and leeching from her the
life-powers she holds through the ‘dark sun’ and Sun Stealer ’s powers – The Interloper. The Orrish begin
to cross the Belnok Mountains in the north and reclaim their lost lands, sacking the new Ducateon Holts on
their way. The Orrish push their way south into what becomes Dar-Hashuk. Men move west into lands set
aside as sanctuary. The Orrish somehow are able to assassinate every leader or disrupt every council
meeting the elect a new High Councilor.

• CY 591; The followers of Elancil leave the Fellowship and go west – to the lands that border the sea
  and the Seabourne Isles, and found the early colonies of the Sea-Kings. She rejects alliance with the
  Light Bringers and the lands of the Fellowship, claiming that they lack to faith to follow the path set
  out for them.
• CY 590; A New Sun – Coming of the Light Bringers: Deserted by their new gods, and with other’s
  power waning, and most of the other races far from the frontiers, the humans of Helca seek more aid. Again
  the magi and priests of men combine their forces, sending out a call for aid into the gulfs – this time
  with the aid of the green church. From the heart of the sun comes a message – ‘The Light is Coming to
  Banish the Dark’. On the first of the new year, as the sun rises, it seems to shrug off a piece of itself, a
  flaming trail in the sky carves morning from night and the Light Bringers descend from the heavens.
• CY 400; Malek, once a guardian that masked the lands of the Fellowship from the power of the Unholy
  Trio now joins with them, he is the great betrayer – though his followers believe there must be a reason
  and a plan behind it all.

CY 30-343; The First Fellowship was lead by men. Many scholars speculate that this great pouring
forth of life is what awakened the land and brought the races to fight as one. In a time when all that was
left was primitive and crude, when nothing was left of the politics and feuds, the races came together to
fight in a lowland plain named Chur-Eda. The exact location is lost to history, although it is thought to
be south of the Valley of Sighs. After this battle the first Fellowship Council was called, a crude
governing body made of members of each race – with a High Councilor reigning above all. Together, every
family or every race organized and fought the Orrish. The gods of darkness were weak and in the age of the
First Fellowship, the northlands, where Dundaria would come to stand, were cleansed of their presence. All
the remaining forces were pushed into the ancient land of Orishai. The Fellowship comes to an end on the
Eve of Baal (the summer solstice) when the High Councilor of the Fellowship is killed while touring the
frontier of an Orishai quiet for a dozen years. In an attempt to show how safe it was, he exposed himself
to danger. An army of Orrish overwhelmed the frontier fort and the age of victory and innocence died in a
single night.

• CY 307; The council sets aside the west as a ‘sanctuary’, men are free to settle but any declaration of sovereignty must be approved by the council. Giants and other species spread west and south.
• CY 302; The eastern lands are fully settled along the Tolkisson Range. Al Drunar – The First Kingdom of Men is given sovereignty in the east.
• CY 233; The Skraelings settle the Grey Woods – a place where they connect to the land, birth rates finally increase and the species are preserved from extinction.
• The faerie race decline is halted and birth rates double.
• CY 87; Common Time Keeping set, history calculated based on ‘Common Reckoning’

Blood of the Earth: (CY 29) Slowly, the chains binding the dark gods unraveled. A great wound
opened up and disgorged its contents. Right away the worshipers of nature knew what had been done, for
each of them was marked with a wound which would not heal, not even unto death. Their mother had been
hurt and so the cry went out once again. The war-banners of the Orrish were raised once again, this time
dipped in the blood of their gods. War had come to the survivors of Saemon again.

Tear Gift of Ezrilus: (CY 15) With the mass devastation and untold number of death, the ebb and flow
of life was at an all-time low. Ghosts haunted everyone’s dreams, children were dying in the womb, and
fear still walked the land while the remaining Orrish and their allies began to flourish. Into this
situation stepped Ezrilus, who cried when she saw for herself the loss of life and hope. Her tears mixed
with the waters of the world, and so unto every race were given the possibility of breeding with another.
The chains on death had been released and hope sprung anew.

Calling of the Gray Gods: (CY 14) With the power of the Green Host and Celestials spent, the
races looked to the skies for aid. Unable to contact their olden gods for aid, they sought new ones. Magi
gathered and began to record the knowledge of their craft, for fear it be forgotten so many were dying in defending. They too conjured and
called, seeing what powers they may contact. This all reached a distant place wherein dwelled the Wyld
Gods – gods of power and energy, untamed forces. They gave the magi the knowledge of how to safely
activate the gate in the valley again. The priest of the olden gods divided along the lines of the new
ones, and to each was born a clergy that would call their god across the gulfs, through the gate that the
magi would activate once again. And so they traveled, protected by an army of men, into the Valley of
Sighs and returned with the new gods – the Gray Gods of Elancil, Ezrilus, Mizras, and Malek.

The Scattering: (CY 7-8) The gods of darkness were cast down. The deaths exceeded one million all
total, and no clear victory was achieved by any side. Towards the end, fetid winds began to blow the smell
of death for days in every direction, though mostly west. It is said the sacrifice of life was so great, that some sort of
magical effect was spawned. The earth belched forth nightmare creatures continuously, until both sides
were forced to retreat. The valley has been shunned by most ever since. Winds carry the clash of arms
still, and the battle horns and drums echo in the distance. The dying sighs of a million living beings are
still heard, miles, even days outside the valley. The voices of the dying cry for mercy and those in misery beg for
death. The sane do not stay so for long in the valley. Strange creatures are said to prowl its confines,
sometimes breaking free of whatever barrier normally confines them to ravage nearby lands, paying no heed
whether they be Orrish lands or other.

• Celestial Forbiddance: CY 8, The tribes of Nakria returned to their far-away land to the south. The
  Celestial’s walk amongst the Blood of Saemon and tell every leader amongst them that the south is
  forbidden – the price of their assistance is to forever secure the lands south of the Raj (then called The
  Brine Sea).
• Men settled the east, north and south of the valley.
• Orrish and their allies fled to the north to contest with men and north-east – a place they settled
  called Orishai.
• The faeries fled to the forests of the west, to blot out the memories of death from their collective
  memory
• The Ducateon went to found homes in the Tolkisson Range.
• Others found places near to the east and lands of men.

Battle of Helca’s Children: (CY 6) The gods of darkness walked the land in physical form, casting
down the sun and turning all to ash in their crusade. Their followers continued to pour through the gateway,
killing everything in their path. When all seemed lost, the Green Host finally arrived to aid the Blood of
Saemon. Faerie, Ducateon, Human, Grollen and all other races united under the banner of their new adopted
home to save it from destruction. The beasts and plants walked in these days, and overwhelmed the gods of
darkness with their natural powers of life. They closed forever the doorway to another place, and cut off
any further augmentation of the Orrish host. The battle raged again for a full cycle of the moon. The
Orrish host did not sit idle and came to the aid of their masters. Millions of beings fought and died in one
place.

The Celestials unite and bring their tribes and tore into the Orrish host, even into the peoples of
what they saw as invaders. The Celestial Host arrival throws everything into disarray – somehow neither
side was able to detect their presence.

The Awakening of the Green Host: (Cy 5) Deep in the forest of the Fertile Crescent slept an ancient force, one that had slept through the eons of humanities rise and struggles. With the coming of
the Blood of Seamon, this force arose to do battle with an energy that had already begun to corrupt and
pollute the planet – the influence of the Unholy Trio. The Green Lady, Lady Gaia, Mother Gaia stirred and from her womb came the first giants to walk upon Helca. The giants came from the earth, air, fire and water. The Awakening of the Giants brought all types of giants, spontaneously created to do battle. The lord of beasts gained consciousness and began
the slow walk north and east, gathering unto him all the ‘great’ natural powers that answered his call. To
each who answered the call for aid in the coming battle, he breathed life into one and created the great
archetypes who are worshiped to this day. They in turn gathered their own kind unto them, combined with the Celestials and their animal and Merovin host, and marched over
the mountains and into battle with the Orrish hosts and those of the Blood of Saemon. Word went out, from
those who had venerated the natural presence of the homelands, that the earth was alive here, just as it
had been there.

Arrival of The Interloper: (CY 4) After years of war and strife, fire and blood, a new moon
appeared in the sky – a moon simply called ‘the interloper’. It was a black chunk of basalt rock, ripped
from the home-place of the Unholy Trio. Upon this the Unholy Trio was said to make their home. The trio
soon stepped down from their watch and entered the battle on the side of their servants, the Orrish, the
Trolls, and misguided Ko-bolds. A dark shadow was cast upon Helca and the gods of darkness began their
destruction.

The Confrontation: (CY 3) Events leading up to this great battle, referred to as ‘The Confrontation’,
are unclear. However, it was not more than two or three years after the Great Crossing. The Orrish and
their allies, once driven back by and prohibited from following, found a way through the passage used by
the Blood of Saemon. A massive army, ready for battle and carrying the standards of the Unholy Trio moved
into the valley. It trod directly amidst the survivors trying to rebuild their cultures. So horrible and
terrifying was this battle, that its effects are still observed today. The forces of life and death
fought a great pitched battle in this valley. It is said to have raged for a full cycle of the moon nonstop.

The Great Crossing: (CY 1) The first of the Blood of Saemon arrive in a land they name as Helca (where what was eventually to be named The Valley of Sighs). Whatever the means of arrival, it tore from the survivors any clear memory or vision of what their home looked like – The first recorded new histories will be generations after the Great Crossing. What may have happened to any written materials brought from the home of the the creatures known as The Blood of Saemon have been lost in time – or at least common knowledge.

The Journey Over: (?) Today, only hazy legends and myths survive of this time. It is thought by most that the races came from a sinking continent or land named Saemon. No true information has been able to be gathered from the early days of the races of that would settle the east and the center in what was to become Gladnor. Some claim that in fact the races are not natives of the realms at all, but in fact come from some place and/or time else and were transported by magical means. This is often referred to as Seat of Grey Birds (Origins of Blood of Saemon). Whatever the case, races of light and darkness, good and bad, civil and savage all fled their homes. The earliest histories speak of a place absent all gods, but that the Unholy Trio was alive before the Gods of Light walked the realms. Regardless of the truth, no documented history of Helca itself exists by the blood of Saemon before the Great Crossing.

The Calling: (?) The Blood of Saemon had little in the way of magic or faith, their greatest among them sacrificing themselves to provide power for the means to escape their dying realm. What little remained gathered together and prayed, using all their power to send their message and need across the world and into the sky and beyond. A name answered back across the gulfs – a place called ‘Helca’.

Before the coming of the The Blood of Saemon, after the time of tribes, the animal headed celestial lords made Helca their home – specifically the Southern Greatlands of the [continent of] Greynohr. In the Celestial Epoch, a legion of Celestials came from another place to make Helca their home, and peoples of Nakria were as toys used in endless battles for supremacy. Massive armies in the thousands fighting in battles which lasted for days.

Before the coming of the The Blood of Saemon, there was a time of tribes, where life was primal, robust, and filled with immense passions and zest… This “Time of Tribes” is known as The Nakreha to the few who find its lore or remember its days.

There are several features and denizens lost to history which pre-date even these times – such as the city of Taeylorn.